This is the present situation on the ground on what concerns the civil war. Now that Aleppo has been freed the government should clear the south of Syria nd the Palmyra region of all rebel presence, before dealing with Idlib and the east of the country.

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has supported the idea of holding intra-Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana in his phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nazarbayev’s press service said on Saturday.

"In the telephone conversation, Vladimir Putin voiced his interest in getting peace talks between the Syrian warring sides to be held in Astana," the press service said. "Kazakhstan’s president supported the initiative."

"Kazakhstan supports international efforts aimed at finding a peace solution to the Syria conflict," he added.

Earlier, Putin said he had reached an agreement with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their phone conversation earlier this week to ask the conflicting parties in Syria to hold talks in Astana. If the parties to the conflict - the Syrian government forces and the armed opposition - agree with the proposal, he added "we will ask Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to back this process."

In April 2015 Kazakhstan received the first request from representatives of the Syrian opposition to hold talks seeking to resolve the Syrian crisis. At the end of May, the first round of talks, held behind closed doors in Astana, brought together 30 opposition activists from different political parties.

During the negotiations a joint document was drawn up, envisaging that foreign military personnel would be withdrawn from Syria and a national army would be revived.

Besides, the participants reached an understanding on humanitarian issues, particularly on corridors for relief aid deliveries to refuges with the assistance provided by international organizations, like the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Also, the politicians outlined a road map to solve a many-year-old crisis. Syria’s opposition said after the talks it had reached concrete agreements for the first time in Astana.

In October 2015, the second round of talks ended up with adoption of a declaration on parliamentary elections in Syria, under conditions of international observers’ monitoring and security guarantees for all candidates.

Besides, the opposition insisted on forming a national unity government with broad powers and on reforming the army, security forces and other state agencies in Syria.

After Aleppo's liberation Russia is now interested in getting talks between the government and the opposition going on again, but are trying to keep those talks out of reach of western countries by holding them in Kazakhstan, under the auspices of Russia and Turkey. If that works out and an agreement can be reached, the defeat of the US and EU will be complete. Peace will be reached by Russia, not by the Western countries, which will have profound consequences for the future of the ME. Interesting times ahead... And those who like to underestimate Russia will have been taught another hard lesson...

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has supported the idea of holding intra-Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana in his phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nazarbayev’s press service said on Saturday.

"In the telephone conversation, Vladimir Putin voiced his interest in getting peace talks between the Syrian warring sides to be held in Astana," the press service said. "Kazakhstan’s president supported the initiative."

"Kazakhstan supports international efforts aimed at finding a peace solution to the Syria conflict," he added.

Earlier, Putin said he had reached an agreement with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their phone conversation earlier this week to ask the conflicting parties in Syria to hold talks in Astana. If the parties to the conflict - the Syrian government forces and the armed opposition - agree with the proposal, he added "we will ask Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to back this process."

In April 2015 Kazakhstan received the first request from representatives of the Syrian opposition to hold talks seeking to resolve the Syrian crisis. At the end of May, the first round of talks, held behind closed doors in Astana, brought together 30 opposition activists from different political parties.

During the negotiations a joint document was drawn up, envisaging that foreign military personnel would be withdrawn from Syria and a national army would be revived.

Besides, the participants reached an understanding on humanitarian issues, particularly on corridors for relief aid deliveries to refuges with the assistance provided by international organizations, like the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Also, the politicians outlined a road map to solve a many-year-old crisis. Syria’s opposition said after the talks it had reached concrete agreements for the first time in Astana.

In October 2015, the second round of talks ended up with adoption of a declaration on parliamentary elections in Syria, under conditions of international observers’ monitoring and security guarantees for all candidates.

Besides, the opposition insisted on forming a national unity government with broad powers and on reforming the army, security forces and other state agencies in Syria.

After Aleppo's liberation Russia is now interested in getting talks between the government and the opposition going on again, but are trying to keep those talks out of reach of western countries by holding them in Kazakhstan, under the auspices of Russia and Turkey. If that works out and an agreement can be reached, the defeat of the US and EU will be complete. Peace will be reached by Russia, not by the Western countries, which will have profound consequences for the future of the ME. Interesting times ahead... And those who like to underestimate Russia will have been taught another hard lesson...

Yes, Russia will spend billions to gain an ally in the least wealthy and strategic country in the ME, controlled by a government supported by a minority of the population.

Jim the Moron wrote:
So, the barbaric Assad has "liberated" Aleppo, eh? "Peace will be reached by Russia." Nice "peace," with Syrian children by the thousands being tortured to death by Assad's operatives.

Do you actually believe that?... So far the only children killed and decapitated in Syria were the victims of the rebels...

This is a repeat of my post on the other site showing the Assad plan of action - at the time it was a prediction - now a reality in part in Aleppo:

But to inform the other readers of this forum here is the same play by Bashar successfully completed in another Sunni area of former Syria, the town of Daraya. The town was under siege for four long years and holding until Bashar and his Russian allies started the bombing of civilians campaign that created a humanitarian crisis:http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-08-26/d ... ears-bombs

Daraya, just 15 minutes from Damascus, was one of the first towns in Syria to rise up against Assad's government and became a symbol of the uprising.

The rebels said they were forced to agree to evacuate the town because of deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

Anti-government activists have condemned what they called the forced displacement of Daraya's inhabitants.